To hover, you want the engine thrust line right through the CG, and that line the same as the gravity vector. To move sideways, you have to get the CG off that vector, so the vehicle essentially "falls" in the direction you want it to go.

For those of you who don't have a rocket around to try this, bicycles or motorbikes work the same. If you want to make a right turn on a bicycle, you have to actually steer to the left a little first. That will move the point of contact of the wheels to the left with respect to your centre of gravity, so that you fall to the right. Then you steer into the turn, and the centrifugal force will counteract the falling so that you stay at the same angle. When you want to exit the turn, you steer right to get your point of contact underneath your centre of gravity again, which removes the centripetal force from the falling and makes you go straight again.

(Disclaimer: Do try this at home, in a place without traffic, obstacles, or other dangerous situations, and be careful not to fall off. You might easily break something and if you do, I'm not responsible. If you are a minor, seek parental supervision, a lawyer, spiritual counseling, and make sure there is a doctor at the ready. After all, we have to think of the children. Or something, heck, I'm not an American so what do I know about disclaimers?)

Congrats on the in-air restart by the way, looked pretty cool!

_________________Say, can you feel the thunder in the air? Just like the moment ’fore it hits – then it’s everywhereWhat is this spell we’re under, do you care? The might to rise above it is now within your sphereMachinae Supremacy – Sid Icarus

Ben, Perhaps it is just that when you make those motions to begin a translation or a minor adjustment in position, you do it more aggressively than AA. Like the difference of taking off at a run versus a walk. Your last video has an example. Near the end when you recenter over the pad (34 second mark.)

I understand the physics of it and I am in no way insinuating that you are doing it wrong. It would take me a month of banging my head on a wall just to get the code right, let alone setting it to the proper values and interfacing with gps and IMUs. That would keep me busy for much longer. I am fully impressed at the very very least. I simply happen to prefer the more gentle corrections that AA uses under normal circumstances. Their last violent relight as the exception...

If you watch the llc videos Scorpius barely tips noticeably to start and stop translation. You kind of tipped Xoie on her side to get going. It is not a question of which is using the correct algorithm. It is a question of which one my gentle stomach would want a ride on.

So long Mojave, and thanks for all the fish! And just to outdo @wikkit I licked Xombie on my way out. Tastes of iron.

So it appears that Masten has just lost its second key employee... Masten has had a very good development pace and according to themselves very interesting projects lined up. Are Ben and Ian's departures going to (significantly) affect the ability to keep this up and continue the projects? Does the job opening for a propulsion engineer mean that Jon is leaving shortly, too?

Are these moves driven by them wanting to move out of Mojave or are they being "bought away" by competitors? Does this make it more difficult to recruit and/or keep replacements? Can this affect the future of the company?

I'm wishing you the best in finding capable new employees. I'm hoping for the best, but slightly worried (perhaps not rightfully so).

_________________For every complex problem there is a solution that is clear, simple, and wrong. - Henry Louis Mencken

After rigorous adherence to Masten's "modify, test, modify" philosophy, Xaero has finally been unleashed from the safety tether, and performed a successful free flight hover this week. Improvements to our control algorithms were validated under tether earlier in the week, followed by careful analysis of Xaero's flight performance. The result is a picture perfect 22 second hover flight.